A great Saturday in Florence!

The sound of camera “beeps”, winded breathing and quite conversation filled the cool morning air. We looked out over all of Florence, the place we now call our temporary homes, and we took the fresh air into our polluted lungs. What a relief it was to be away from the noise and smell of the crowded streets below.  But this was only the first patch of flat ground on our ten-mile up hill hike through Florence and we still had 4 more hours of beautiful scenery to go. I said out loud, “I am SO glad I decided to sign up for this hiking trip. The view is just spectacular from up here!”

The excursion began with all us American college student piling on Italian bus #7, which took us up further into Florence, although I couldn’t really tell you where exactly we were… all I know is that we took bus # 7 to get there. The first stretch of road we walked after getting off the bus had a pretty steep incline and after about 5 minuets I was trying to pretend like I wasn't sore already! After a few more minutes we got to level ground and were able to look out over the city. We hiked up hill for what seemed like an hour. We walked on the pavement, we walked though grass, we walked down hill on stone, and gravel and dirt and we even went uphill through the mud! I met some awesome girls on the trip and I was baffled to find out that one of the girls from WI is living the dream, dating a nice Italian boy and is now studying here full time! I was shocked when she told me!

Saturday night I spent out on the town with a girl I had met earlier in the day hiking and two of her roommates. We stopped by the beer festival so they could try a few samples then we did a little window shopping, stopped at their apartment for bit and then headed across the river for dinner at Dantes Restaurant. I had wonderful boneless pork and potatoes main course and student’s beverages are free there so we all got a free glass of water and a can of coke!  After a full dinner they took me to their favorite gelato place and I got a MASSIVE cone of chocolate hazelnut nutella on a chocolate dipped cone covered in nuts!  Oh how painful was the walk home for me, let me tell you! I was sooo full, but It was well worth it! I had a great day and it ended with a great night!